USB IP and National Moth Week

I turned on my radio, and heard the words “..younger than these other animals…” And thought, that is a a terrible way to describe young delegates at a political convention.

Then I realized it’s Science Friday.

Here’s what I learned about moths.

Moths are Nocturnal. Butterflies are Diurnal. So if you see it at night, it’s a moth.

Moths have fuzzy antenna.

Moths do not nest. This means they fly farther, and carry pollen further. This is critical for keeping plants / crops pollinated. This is probably the biggest reason we should care about moths. Often considered a pest, and essential to agriculture and botany.

Type-C has made it’s way onto phones. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 will ship with a USB Type-C connector. And a little adapter so if you have old Samsung micro-B chargers, you can keep using them. Going forward, you’ll be able to use Type C cables and chargers. Read more here:

Speaking of chargers, with Type C and USB there’s a USB Authentication standards which will be used to help make sure the charger you are using is genuine.

This is especially important since there are so many cheap chargers. Most notably a death in 2014 attributed to a cheap charger. The Director of the mobile phone business of the store selling the charger is facing huge fines.

The new USB Authentication Specification will allow companies like Samsung to sell Samsung certified chargers that meet safety standards. Or they can certify chargers. Or they can restrict phones to work with only certified chargers.

Eric started working on USB in 1995, starting with the world’s first BIOS that supported USB Keyboards and Mice while at Award Software. After a departure into embedded systems software for real-time operating systems, he returned to USB IP cores and software at inSilicon, one of the leading suppliers of USB IP. In 2002, inSilicon was acquired by Synopsys and he’s been here since. He also served as Chairman of the USB On-The-Go Working Group for the USB Implementers Forum from 2004-2006.

Eric received an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University and an M.S. in Engineering from University of California Irvine, and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Minnesota. and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Civil Engineering in the State of California

Michael (Mick) Posner joined Synopsys in 1994 and is currently Director of Product Marketing for Synopsys' DesignWare USB Solutions. Previously, he was the Director of Product Marketing for Physical (FPGA-based) Prototyping and has held various product marketing, technical marketing manager and application consultant positions at Synopsys. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the University of Brighton, England.